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Jets owner Leon Hess ailing

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Posted: Thursday April 29, 1999 11:17 AM

Hess is the last of a group of buyers who purchased the Jets in 1963. Al Bello/Allsport

NEW YORK (AP) -- Leon Hess, the 85-year-old owner of the New York Jets, was in the hospital Thursday, nearly three weeks after breaking a hip.

Lenox Hill Hospital refused to give any information about Hess' condition at the request of his family, said spokeswoman Karen Zipern.

Frank Ramos, the Jets' spokesman, said Thursday that Hess had gone home briefly after being treated for the broken hip, but had returned to the hospital. He declined to comment further.

Hess, the last of a group of wealthy friends who brought the NFL team in 1963 when it was called the Titans, is the former head of Amerada Hess Corp., the oil company.

An oilman since the Depression, when he began selling refining leftovers in Asbury Park, N.J., Hess acquired Amerada in 1969 after an ownership battle with Phillips Petroleum.

He stepped down as chairman and CEO in 1995. Forbes magazine last year listed his net worth at $720 million.

 

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